This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Editorial

ism. It is about a peacefu
together in democratic Eu
The website is open to ev
You can write independen
cles, share photos make,
Editorial by Norbert Tillmann small films or upload aud
Put your contributions on
Remembering and
yourself. All you need is a
Understanding!
Simply send an email to
aktuelles-forum.de
This is the current issue of the
international online newspaper The organization
called EuropeanYouthVoice.
The project was initiated
This magazine
aktuelles forum nrw e.V.
many. ItÂ´s a non-profit
This magazine is a special edition tion for civic education. A
of EuropeanYouthVoice. The arti- forum was founded in
cles deal with resistance groups of offer a forum for politica
young people during the Second sions.
World War, the youth unemployment in Europe and the attitude In seminars and projects
of young people to elections.
about controversial iss
This is a publication by and for politics, society and cult
young Europeans. Enjoy it!
are committed to social
and more democracy. A
The website
forum isnÂ´t party-politi
ented. Rooted in the Ru
The online newspaper Europe- in Gelsenkirchen, Germ
anYouthVoice itself exists since work nationally and inte
2006. This newspaper wants to ally for a European dialo
develop a new European Journal- understanding.

Contents
“Young, educated, and looking for a job!”
by Paula Gulbinska page 4

The title of our program in 2013
is called: „€urope: economic, ecological and socially fair?” On the
website www.aktuelles-forum.de
you will find all information on our
seminars and projects.
The Supporters
The project is financed by the EU
– youth in action program and the
land headquarters for political education in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

“Survey about youth unemployment. Unemployment of young people in different countries
of Europe”
by Mihalis Pantelis page 8
“Special on Youth Unemployment”
by Herta, Lïva and Olga page 10
“Youth and their attitude to elections”
by Katerina Vojtechova page 12
“An urban communal garden”
by Jane Mintah page 14
“Youth Resistance Groups during the 2nd
World War examples of Germany and Greece”
by Vivi Zapantiotou page 18
“Remembering and understanding... the lessons
of history”
by Georgi Georgiev page 22
“Gestapo and KGB - Past and present”
by Anti Haugas page 24
“Are Romas and Sintis the real problem?”
by Elisabeth Olajumoke Adeyanju Omonga
page 26
“They just can’t understand I have friends from
other countries”
by Alena Fričova page 28

3

Paula Gulbinska

Young, educated, and looking for a job!

W

hen Laura (23) started studies at The Faculty of Social
Sciences in The University of Latvia she had to find a job to pay for
her living so she started to work
as a babysitter in the kindergarten.
Asked how she managed to combine studies with a part time job,
she tells that it was very hard: “I
had to wake up at 7 o’clock, went to
the early lectures, in the afternoon
went to the work and got home at
11 o’clock. I did my home works
at night and woke up at 7 again.
I wonder how I managed to survive it, I think couldn’t do it now.”
The average student in Latvia
living in the dormitory in the first
years of studies needs approximately 100 – 200 lats (200 – 300
euro) per month [1]. Many of them
get social loans, help from their
parents and few get scholarships
but Laura had to make living on
her own. As a part time babysitter
she earned 240 lats. It was necessary for her to work since there was
no any other way how to keep on
studies but money issue wasn’t the
only source of the pressure. After
she got the budget place she also
had to study a lot to make sure she
wouldn’t lose the opportunity to
study for free: “Emotionally it was
very hard but I didn’t think about it
much. The hardest part was getting
a job after the studies,” tells Laura.
For the first months after graduating Laura felt frustrated. “I sent approximately 40 CVs and in the most
cases I didn’t get the answer at all.”
Laura kept on working as a
babysitter since she wanted to live
in Riga where there were more
possibilities to get the job than in
the countryside. Still Laura was
determined to make career in me4

by Paula Gulbinska
dia after graduating and it took
her a year and a half until she
started to work as video editor.
“You won’t get a job if you
don’t have the experience but you
can’t get the experience if you don’t
have a job” has become a common phrase among young people
in Latvia. When you ask them to
tell about job perspectives in their

EBSphoto

chosen profession, majority is pessimistic and understands there’s
a possibility that after graduating
they won’t find a way to earn money with the knowledge and experience gained in universities. The
relation between theoretical and
practical skills is not necessarily
related to the demands of the labor
market. One of the main reasons

Latvia

is the growing popularity of Law,
Economics, and Communication
and Media studies. In this case labor market is overloaded with graduates in Social Sciences but qualified engineers and graduates from
professional colleges are absent.
The cooperation between universities, students and employers
in the most cases hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been productive for the last years and only
now when the quality of education

has been more actively discussed,
the collaboration is possible. One
of the platforms for dialogue
among students, academics and
employers is a forum â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ready for
a Labor Marketâ&#x20AC;? made by Student
Association of Latvia (LSA) and
held in September, 2012. The presented solutions show the correlation between the practical courses
in universities and potential work
places and employment. Education policy makers, academics,

students and representatives of
The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia stress the necessity
to make parts of higher education
programs fit the needs of labor
market and employers, educate
young people about lifelong learning and labor rights, and stress the
role of government as the main institution capable to encourage and
support both students and employers. [2] If taken these measures
could become a real solution for
unemployment issue in Latvia but
it should be considered that the la-

5

Paula Gulbinska

EBSphoto
bor market situation is extremely
dependent on the whole economic
situation of the country. Also the
question rises about the student
motivation which is not always affected only by the quality of studies but also by the experience, personal aims and expectation of the
future life. “Competition is needed
if you want to grow up not only as
a personality but also as employee.
Motivation makes you more favorable for the labor market, especially in the time of crises when employees are looking for alternative
and innovative ideas,” tells Laura.
In the beginning of the 2012 European Commission asked to solve
the youth unemployment issue in
Latvia since almost 30% of unemployed people are youngsters.
[3] The main aim set up by EC is
to make sure that graduates could
find a job in four months after getting a degree. Although discussion
about the quality of higher education and labor market has been a
part of a daily agenda for the last
years, unemployment is still THE
issue for students in Latvia. Previously mentioned solutions and further cooperation between all the involved parts could give a hope for
young people in the labor market.
6

EBSphoto

About Paula:
“I’m studying Masters for
Communications and Media
in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia and
also working as a freelancer on
Latvian Radio 1 and as a host
on a noncommercial university
radio “Naba”. My academic
interests are related to radio,
public service broadcasting and
media management. I took a
part in EYV project because of
my interest in social issues in
Europe (as for example unemployment) and also to gain
some experience and knowledge about media issues in
Western Europe. My free time
hobbies are related to cinema
and astronomy.”

Silvester, Slovakia, 27 years old
“Second largest in EU. Big
problem even for graduated people. Will get worse
new laws make you pay extra
taxes if you work part time.”

Jane, France, 21 years old

“The unemployment represent
6500 young people in France.
Too much qualification and no
job, no qualification and no job.”

Pätris, Estonia, 21 years old

“It is not a big problem.”
Michelle, Slovakia, 20 years old

“The majority of young people
who graduated from universities
are unemployment because of the
lack of practice. The education is
concentrated mostly on theoretical
issues and young people can’t get
any experience.”

Kateřina, Czech Republic, 27 years old
“It is a difficult situation
because without practices
people cannot receive a
job. Practices (internships)
are bad paid and graduate cannot receive a high
salary.”

Maria , Bulgaria , 26
years old
Amadeusz, Poland , 19 years old
“Most recent graduates
face the challenge to find
“It depends on the kind of job for example in fast
foods is easy to get a job. If you don’t have contacts a suitable job as the job
with high people in factories and companies then you market is very limited
to young professionals
must work in fast food.”
especially those without
experience”
Vicky, Spain , 24 years old
“We have to be creative to invent our own life and
future, this mean NOT to wait for the big enterprises to come and knock on our door to offer us
a job.”

8

“My name is M
from Greece and
I am studying
ing and compute
Technical Univ
like sports (runn
ball), dancing an
Soon enough I w
I will look for a jo
of the opportunity
a project, organiz
Voice called “Re
derstanding” and
from 24th -31st
asked young peo
countries of Euro
ment of young peo

Tonia, Greece, 27 years old
“Young people don’t have a job or a stable job. Many
who have university degrees or master diploma could
not find a job in the field they have studied , so they
have to immigrate.”

Greece

ent of young people in different countries of Europe.
Agata, Poland, 24 years old
“Every 4th person has no job.”

Kathi , Germany, 23 years old

“In our country government takes care of
youth unemployment to avoid that they become poor.”

Mihalis Pantelis, I am
d I am 25 years old.
electrical engineerer science at National
versity of Athens. I
ning, basketball, footnd organizing party!!!
will take my degree and
ob so I took advantage
y I had to participate in
zed by European Youth
emembering and Untook place in Cologne
of October 2012 and
ople from 11 different
ope about unemployople in their countries”

Paula, Latvia, 22 years old
“It’s hard to find a job without experience but you
can’t get practical experience
in universities. Once you
get the job you get paid very
badly”

Adolfo, Spain, 23 years old
“Big problem with no solution,
just using imagination and work
can get us out of this.”
Nestor, Spain, 24 years old

“People are losing their faith
and they are starting to leave to
other countries”

Ivelina , Bulgaria , 25 years old
“Most of the young people in Bulgaria are unemployment,
more than 50%. Most of them are educated but they can’t find
a job in line with their education because there are so many
professionals who continue to work even after their retirement.”

Kalev , Estonia, 19
Years old
“When young people
really want to work
they can find a job. The
biggest problem is that
young people are not
willing to do every job”

Cedric, France , 20
years old
“Young people without studies had more
difficulty to get a job.
Now it’s the same with
young people making
long studies.”

Alena , Slovakia , 22 years old

“Bigger problem to find a job have
older people around forty, fifty
years old.”

Margarita, Latvia ,23 Years old

“In Latvia 30% of unemployed people are
young.”
9

Herta, L誰va, Olga

Special on Youth Un
done

by

Herta Taube

Officially communication science specialist in journalism
field. But interest and everyday work is more connected
with promoting and video editing. I like how video piece
could be changed by the art of montage.

L朝va Romane

Finished journalism studies some time ago, working as
a writing and video journalist and enjoying life. For me
journalism is a great excuse for being nosy, asking a lot of
silly questions and getting to know strangers very deeply.

Olga Fedjuhina

I have finished Business and Marketing studies and currently work in Asset Servicing for a Swedish bank. However I am also interested in media communication and try
to focus on this area in my spare time.
10

Use t
hi
all th s RQ code
e vide
to ha
os!
ve ac
ce

s

Latvia

nemployment

s s to

A series of videos on youth
unemployment have been
produced during the seminar week.
You can find interviews with
different journalists talking
about the situation on the
job market for young journalists and vox pops with
young Europeans and their
different views on youth unemployment, jobs and work!

11

Katerina Vojtechova

Youth
D

uring the last two weeks
regional and senate elections took
place in different countries of
the European Union. In
Czech Republic only 30% of
inhabitants participated. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
why the result of the elections
finished by winning of the social
democrats and communist party.
It is because seniors are used to
go to the elections regularly as
they were used in the communists
times. Young people are less and
less participating on the elections,
maybe because they are persuaded
that their vote is too weak to
change something. This is the
crucial mistake which should be
corrected as soon as possible in
order to avoid these results of the
elections.
A similar situation is in Greece
where the socialists received a
huge number of votes. It is
caused by the bad situation
of unemployment when social
democrats promise to people
social certitude (the same as
the communists) and a lot of
unemployed people believe them.
This happens mainly now in the
crisis when nobody has a certainty
of employment. If the economical
situation improves, there will be a
lot more people who will vote for
the right side so the communists
and social democrats will decline.
Youth should be more active
regarding the elections. Once they
will be adult and it will be
12

exactly the parties elected by
themselves which will rule. Only
themselves can influence the
result of elections because they are
numerous. Whatsmore a majority

EBS photo

and their

attitu

of them have university degrees
and that means that they are quite
intelligent to vote for the parties of
the right side. Passive attitude and
non-participating at the elections

Czech Republic

ude

to

elections
by Katerina Vojtechova

This is the reason why in Czech
leads to the above mentioned
situation with the social democrats Republic during forty years won
and communists which means elections communists.
The
political
situation
dominance of the seniors at the
persuaded the inhabitants to go
elections.

regularly to the elections. It were
always the same people who
went to vote and that’s why the
communists were winners. Youth
are living in a different political
system so they don’t know how it
is to go regularly to the elections
in order to let win always the one
party. Particularly youth which
were born later than in 80´s don’t
know the reason why should they
go to the elections because they
didn’t live in the communist times
and the Velvet Revolution.

Katerina Vojtechova
“I am 27 years old and I was
born in Zlín. It is my hometown
where I am actually living. I
was studying languages at the
University of South Bohemia,
especially English and French
for the administration of the
European Union and French
for the sphere of the european
and international business.
I like reading, surfing on the
Internet, meeting friends and
skiing
13

Jane Mintah

An urban communa

Pflanzstelle, socio-cultu

I

n the current context of the crisis
in Europe, a sense of individualism
increase between the Europeans
countries and between people in a
country. In a social point of view,
cleavages become important between different socials classes and
conditions of life. Behind these observations, some people found al14

ternative communities who allow
building social links. Then, in Germany, to Cologne, I have met the
Pflanzstelle who means the place
where we grow vegetables. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
an urban garden. How it works?
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Tuesday afternoon, cold and
gray I went to Pflanzstelle, located
in the district of Kalk-Kapelle. A

German friend who accompanies
me and called Fadi acts as interpreter for the interview I am about
to undertake. At a street corner, I
arrived at the scene where the famous urban garden. It is bordered
by a long green wire and is facing
houses. So it seems to me not see
anyone inside, I saw a woman who

Germany

al garden

by Jane Mintah

is trying to close the gate. I call it.
His name is Martina. She has 50
years working in marketing and
joined the community that live
Pflanzstelle. What a nice surprise
when she learns that in addition
to German, she speaks four languages: French, English, Spanish
and Italian! The language skills

of Fadi suddenly lose all prestige, but it does not detract from
the pleasure of his presence by
my side this afternoon gloom.
Martina gives us visit the garden
while answering some questions.
Since the place was a Brownfield,
the soils are contaminated. So,
we don’t seed directly in it but in

Photo by Jane Mintah

ural and urban agriculture in Cologne: A city garden community

jars and palettes. The water is
difficult to access. The garden
is composed by vegetables and
aromatics plants. We don’t use
chemicals products and fertilizers. We can’t sleep in Pflanzstelle. During summer and
spring, it’s opened everyday at
9h until 20h. But in winter and
15

Jane Mintah
autumn, it’s more closed. Activities are established
like potluck, sensitization of the nature and urban
environment with many meetings, concerts, exhibitions. Financially, the seeds, the tools come from
pockets of the community and donations outside.

The people who come in the garden are mostly the neighborhoods and foreigners who represent 70% of the population in Cologne. There
is an Iranian of 65 years old and I come every day to cultivate tomatoes and tobacco.
This reappropriation of abandoned space brings a new
dimension to urban life and can bring people from different backgrounds and cultures through a manual activity-and especially! - Useful: maintains a vegetable
garden. It is a rediscovery of the nature and means of
preserving it. The garden is also a way of protest, the
image of the “Ecological Footprint” fighting against
intensive farming and overabundant consumption of
meat, one of the disparities between rich and poor.
A place where we can exchange smiles, advice,
opinions ... and vegetables! Martina, for his kindness and availability, seemed to personify the will

Photo by Jane Mintah

The community includes forty people. Some of them
are vegetarians and the others are vegans. Therefore,
a new project on the food was created, the spread
project. A group of twenty people eat every week
one glass jar of vegans spread. That means every person has to produce one glass jar, shop, cook, twenty
minutes of preparation, a lot of spoiled energy. In
the project there is one person per week who prepares the spread for all people in the group, brings
the glasses to the Pflanzstelle where the others come
to take it. The system is a rolling system so, one person have to prepare forty spreads for the forty the
week. In the meantime, the others prepare for you.
The spread is composed with beans, garlic, cay-

enne pepper and salt from the ocean without iodine.

of humanism at the origin of this experience. Clear
proof that, whatever the circumstances; nothing
can replace the daily exchange with each other.
The urban garden initiative exists in other German cities as well as in other major cited

16

around the globe and seems an effective way
to preserve human relations within the city.
The meeting with Martina deeply affected by
her generosity and her joy of living. I ‘am feeling hopeful for a more consolidated world.

Germany

Photo by Jane Mintah

About Jane
“I am 21 and I come from France. I have study theater for 3
years. I metisse, born of a white mother and a black father
from Gahna. My metissage made ​​me feel like a citizen of the
world. The theater is art for me is the most human. Out, humanity asks me a lot. But sport, music, song and dance are
also important for me. I like many styles, many arts, many cultures, many foods. I grow the difference and make it my asset”
17

Vivi Zapantiotou

Youth Resistance Groups during the 2nd Wor

Y

outh should be always
on the forefront of every action
defending Freedom and Peace.
During the 2nd World War a lot of
resistance movements’ occured in
Europe in many occupied countries.
Inspired by the story of the
youth
resistance
movement
of the “Edelweis Pirates” in
Cologne, I’m going to present
you some of the most remarkable
youth actions against the Hitler
regime during the 2nd World War
occurred in Germany and Greece.
Nazism had a powerful appeal to
German, however youth resistance
existed also inside the NaziGermany either through organised
groups either via informal groups,
against Adolf Hitler regime. The
“Edelweiss Pirates” was not a
specific movement but rather an
association of a number of youth
movements that had developed
in western Germany in response
to the Nazi regimentation of
youths. Named after the edelweiss
badge they wore on their clothes.
This is the story of a young boy,
Barthel Schink. He was a member
of the “Navajos”, the “Edelweis
pirates” branch in Cologne,
Germany. He used to gather around
parks and on the street corners
were the group of the «Edelweis
pirates» was meeting. Barthel and
his friends were discussing about
how they’re going to survive under
the Nazis’ authoritarianism and
they were trying to find ways to
avoid the clutches of Hitler Youth.
Their activities grew bolder as the
18

..a chronicle by Vivi Zapantiotou

war progressed. They painted antinazi slogans on walls, collected
the Allies propaganda leaflets
and shove them through people
letterboxes and moved on to small
acts of sabotages. They also helped
Jews, prisoners of war and army
deserters.They accused of being
slackers at work and social parasites
but Barthel and his friends in
“Edelweis Pirates” were just young
anti-conformists who wanted to be
free and not ruled by the Nazis.
At the age of 15, Barthel was
arrested with a number of others,
tortured and imprisoned for four
months. Bartholomaeus (Barthel)
Schink, was publicly hanged on the
gallows in Ehrenfeld, Cologne on
the morning of November 10, 1944.
The
most
remarkable
momments of youth actions against
the Nazi occupators in Greece
occured after the first big parade
of the conquerors was realised in
Athens on May 1941.Two students
Manolis Glezos and Apostolos
Santas, who weren’t more than 18
years old, climbed up the Acropolis
and by taking the German guard by
surprise they lowered the swastika
flag. Their courage that led to this
unbelievable action was admired
all over Europe and the symbolism
of this first action of resistance
was
particularly
moving.
Their example inspired lot
of young boys and girls who
participated in youth resistance
groups. Iro Konstantopoulou was
one of them and this is her story.
Born and raised up in Athens, she

“My name is Vivi Zapantiotou.
I’m from Ipati, a historical town
in central Greece. I’ve graduated
from the department of International and European Studies at the
University of Piraeus (Athens).
I’m interested in politics, culture
and music. I’m currently unemployed (victim of Greek crisis)
however I don’t give up being creative. I write articles for the EYV
project since 2003 and this has
helped me develop my communication skills, meet people from
other countries and exchange
common thoughts”

belonged at a middle class family,
rich enough for that time to offer her
high education e.g. she could speak
4 foreign languages. However,
Iro despite her comfortable life
prefered to sacrifize her youth in
order to “serve” her country and
help by all means for its freedom.
Iro
Konstantopoulou
was a member of the Greek
youth
resistance
movement
of EPON (United Panhellenic
Youth Movement) a resistance
organisation but also the real

Greece

rld War

examples of Germany and Greece

unknown story of a group of kids
who acted during the German
Occupation in Greece. At that time
hundrends of public buildings were
prescribed by the Nazi occupiers.
Among these buildings were
also several orphanages, from
where hundrends of orphans were
expelled. A group of orphans in the
city of Thessaloniki took their lives
in their hands in order to survive.
They organized in a secret “army”
with hierarchy and discipline and
set up teams of impact and help.
Their sources for supply were
German trucks that carried food
and bread and of course the socalled “black marketeers”. The
stolen goods were distributed
to orphans and other residents
of Thessaloniki who had needs.
Their group was named “The
barefoot battalion” and apart from

Iro Konstantopoulou, member of EPON,
executed by the Nazis Died for Freedom

Bartholomaeus (Barthel) Schink (member
of the Edelweiss Pirates)

expresion of youth as a special
social category, the top resistance
group of Greece during that
period. Iro took part in many
resistance actions and was arrested
many times and tortured in order to
reveal her collegues. However, Iro
didn’t, that’s why she was executed
by the Nazis on 5th September
1944. Her body was found shot 17
times ... as her age was that day.
The story of the Edelweiss
Pirates reminded me also an
19

Vivi Zapantiotou

the help provided to the people,
with wit and courage they also
helped the Resistance movement,
finding ways to smuggle an in the
Middle East, Greeks, Americans
and Englishmen officers in order
to join the Allied armies there .
Young
means
to
be
spontaneous; to be near the sources
of life, to do things that others
do not have the force to attempt.
Young don’t accept compromises
and conventionalities; their mind
is controled by Revolution. Young
people are inspired by new ideas!
We have values and ideas. Young
people understand that the world
will not become better transporting
weaknesses of the past. Maybe
we don’t have experience and
knowledge, however we have
fresh heart and this makes our
spontaneity
more
efficient
than the cold logic of the elder.
They say that the dead live
inside us and their works are for

us the elements of life. With their
struggles and their sacrifice those
young heroes become preachers
and drivers, models for the coming
generations. If we do not want to
lose our orientation and to walk
in an uncertain future we should
secure that we wont lose our contact
with the intellectual values of
past. We the current young people
have dept to defend our right for
a peaceful life. “History is not
waiting for us but walks together
with us. And we the young are the
present that carries on its future”,
wrote a famous Greek poet.
Therefore it is our dept, as
descendants of those young
people that with their spontaneity
filled with pages of heroism the
history and gave us a future more
peaceful, to follow their example
and fight daily for values and ideals
that even today are threatened
by the interests of the stronger!

by Vivi Zapantiotou

“Manolis Glezos and Lakis Santas lowering the nazi-flag “
20

Greece

21

Georgi Georgiev

P

Remembering and understandi

atrick meets us at the entrance of a small church in the
heart of Cologne – Ehrenfeld.
We are about to learn that this
place has a huge and interesting
historical wealth. As if to set the
mood it starts raining as the guide
begins his story. He’s about to tell
us about the time right before the
beginning of the Second World
War and events happened during
the war in this particular place.
If you take a look at the neighbourhood now you might never
know that this place was ever
the lair of political propaganda.
Nowadays it looks like any other
typical German city – nice, big
houses, tidy streets, lots of bikes.
Patrick describes the lives of the
people who lived here approximately 70 years ago. The timbre
of his voice and the breeze we
feel take us to the early 1930s
when the average German had
to struggle to make ends meet.
Most working class families who
lived in bigger cities during these
years were deprived of the simplest things known to our society
– big families with members of 4
people and above lived in a single
room, they had no toilets and had
to work almost the whole day.
They were miserable.
Meanwhile we’ve walked to another street where we stop to see
a photo, shown by the guide. It is
a man in a car who gained strong
political influence and is being
cheered by the crowd. Patrick
tells us that he had promised to
the people food, work and better
conditions of live. They believed
him. For a small period of time
things really improved for the
better.
Young people started joining his
22

Memorial for the Cologne victims on Schönstein Str, next to the
railway station

youth program and it’s easy to
understand why – it was their
way of getting away of the terrible conditions they lived in. In
school they were being taught
how to put out fires, how to process metal, how to handle critical situations. They were being
prepared for a war and to serve
as soldiers in World War II. Usually after their time in the Hitler
Youth they became soldiers in the
Wehrmacht.
On the other hand there were adolescents who denied to be part of
Hitler Youth and started gathering
outside the city like the Edelweiss
Pirates in Cologne. They used to
go to the countryside where they
could stay close to nature and
get in touch with other people
who felt like sharing the same
way of life. These young people
were later being chased by the
nationalistic party that was in
charge for refusing to join the
youth program even though they
were not criminals. In November
1944 a group of thirteen people,
the heads of the Ehrenfeld Group
were publically hanged in Cologne.

We move on to another street and
we stop in front of a house. Our
guide shows us six paving stones
of bronze on the ground. They
have inscription that says ‘Here
lived … Roma, deported on 21
May 1945’. You see, this well
known political figure had the
crazy idea that the German race
is superior to all the other races
and it should be ‘cleaned up’ of
all ‘impurity’. I suddenly feel a
lump in my throat. I’m at the very
place where people were chased,
arrested and sent to concentration
camps just for being themselves.
I suddenly feel very cold, but it’s
not the wind and it is not the rain
either…
Our last stop is the Gestapo headquarters here in Cologne. Patrick
tells us that this is the first place
where people were brought after
being arrested by the Gestapo. In
the building almost nothing has
changed – it is a museum now
and the walls look the same way
they did 70 years ago. We head to
the cellar where the prison cells
were. All the inscriptions on the
walls are preserved – I recognize some Russian messages and

Greece

ing... the lessons of history

by Georgi Georgiev

Many of the members of this organizition were hanged publically

These 6 pavement stones acknoledge the lives of six people
who were deported during the
World War II

In the cells there isn’t a WC.
People could go to the toilet once
a day with a guard next to them

Up to 25 people used to inhabit
this small room during the toughest times

understand them without translation, because our languages have
a lot in common. I don’t have to
listen to the guide to find out what
had been going on in here during the war. People were being
arrested for nothing in particular
and tortured. Patrick explains the
Gestapo didn’t even try to mask
the sound of their screams. On the
walls are to be read many farewell
letters and sometimes just parts of
diary texts of people wondering
how much they’ve got to live…
some of them predicting their
own death.
Suddenly I am stunned, because I
recognize a swastika on the wall.
I simply couldn’t believe it. Why
would a person imprisoned here
draw something like that? Patrick
explained to me what the situation
was – the Gestapo started arresting people just on suspicion and
the victims were often confused,
thinking that here was a misunderstanding. In order to confirm
their political persuasions they
carved the symbol.
This story is easy to remember,
because of its shocking content,
but what’s to understand from it?
Personally, I believe that history
teaches us a great lesson, proving
that no race is superior to the others. So, from now on such ideas
are simply unacceptable. It also
tells us that not all people are the
same, that there were Germans
who were in opposition to the
empowered Nazi party who did
something to change the situation
and whose names will be always
remembered.
I look at Germany as a country now and I see a big difference. Old hostility is forgotten,

Deutschland is now part of a
union with other countries which
were its enemies during the war
and it’s again the economical
engine of Europe. Its society
consists of people of different
nationalities, colors and ethnic
groups living together as one. Is
there a better way to understand
this particular lesson of history?

About Georgi Georgiev
“I’m 20 years old, I was
born in Burgas, but currently live in Sofia, I
study law at ‘’St. Kliment
Ohridski’’ University of
Sofia. In my free time I
like to play football and I
do irish dancing as well.
I think that EYV meeting
in Cologne was a great
experience and a fun way
to meet many new people
of different nationalities”

23

Anti Haugas

Gestapo and KGB
Past and presen

by

W

hen thinking about secret
police, the first organizations that
usually come on our mind are
KGB (also known as NKVD and
MGB) and Gestapo. To young
people these organizations are
also known from different movies, TV-shows and documentaries.
Though, those two organisations
were located in different parts of
Europe and under different rules,
the aim of them was the same â&#x20AC;&#x201C;
to protect the power and retain
dictatorship. People were eavesdropped, dissidents were sent
into dark cold prisons and cellars.
Secret agents were often drafted
among regular citizens, did not
matter if they wanted it or not. All
the houses had ears. The members
of Hitler Youth gave out even their
own parents. That kind of censorship and governing forced the
people to just watch, it was almost
impossible for a man to do something about it.
When in Germany Gestapo lost
its power at the end of the World
War II, in Soviet Union KGB
was on power until 1991, though,
there are rumours that Russia is
using dossiers and former agents
of KGB even today. During the
last 4 years, there have been two
incidents where Estonian public
sector workers steal and abuse the
information they have and spy under Estonian government for Russia. The situation where we have
caught two spies, does not show
the good job of Estonian police,
but it shows how many of those
people might live in this Nordic
country. By Estonian professional

24

espionage info 500 bethrators in a
country of 1.3 million people are
yet to be caught. Probably most
of them are closely watched by
Estonian intelligence service but
the others pose a great threat to
our fragile independence. The case
that Russia does not want to give
Estonia the list of former KGB
agents shows us clearly that they
are still interested in those people.
By the way, Vladimir Putin used

to work for KGB in eighties in
Eastern-Germany.
Retaining dictatorship was
mostly based on recruiting new
espionage agents, chasing and
interrogating suspects. To force
out the information, people
were often tortured and kept in
inhuman conditions and cells.
In the 21st century and Europe,
we would not act like this even
with our worst enemies. There

Estonia

nt

y Anti Haugas
About Anti
“I am an 20-year old Estonian mechanical engineering student. I love to do all
kinds of sports and spend
time with my friends. My
main hobbies are snowboarding, volleyball, singing and space science. I
also belong to a liberal
youth party”

are some extreme measures like
simulating drowning but it is illegal to cause physical damage. For
example in the Gestapo headquarters of Cologne, 32 people were
jailed and pressed in 4-squaremeter cells. Prisoners were allowed
to visit toilet twice a day and
they were not allowed to wash
themselves. In a dirty room many
illnesses started to spread and due
to mental shock some people were
not able to return to their normal
life after the war had ended.
If soldiers who fought in the First
and Second World War were sorted into „dead generation“ we can
we also call some former prisoners
dead for society, if they suddenly
did not disappear in mysterious
cases. To avoid it to happen again,
we need to be extremely critical
in all cases of political repression
and censorship. The power is impossible without people following
the trail the dictator has set.

25

Elisabeth Olajumoke Adeyanju Omonga

F

Are Romas and Sintis the real
problem?
-A hint on Rethinking

or at least five centuries
Romas and Sintis have lived in
almost all European countries.
Today up to 10 million
Romas and Sintis live in Europe.
Originally they come from North
India – proven in the 18th
century by linguists who show the
relation of the language Sanskrit
and Romanes. Although there is
evidence of a peaceful coexistence
of Romas and Sintis in the
european countries in the
middle ages, many stereotypes
and prejudices against Romas and
Sintis
developed
during
the past centuries. These were
later used by the Nazis in their
propagandan and up to 500.000
were murdered by the Nazis. So,
talking of Remembering and
Understanding, I want to give a
hint on Reflecting and Rethinking
our prejudices on Roma and
Sinti
today.

by Elisabeth Olajumoke Adeyanju Omonga
to speaking of minorities in a
white society - in this case white
european society. During the
discussion
I
noticed
a
continuously
differentiation
between
„We“
and
„the
other“.
Solutions
toward
the so called ‘’Gypsi problem’’
were formulated rather in this
kind of way: „We the educated

need
to
cultivate
the
uncultivated...“. The stereotypes
the Nazi Régime used in their
propaganda to murder 500.000
Romas and Sintis seems to have a
revival. Seperation between
We the Europeans and Them the
Romas and Sintis, the Blacks, the
Peope of Colour etc. are
defined as a constructed dichotomy

EBS PHOT

Deconstructing the ‘’Gypsi
problem’’
There was a discussion
at
the
EYV
meeting
about solving the ‘’Gypsy
problem’’ in certain european
countries,
where
they
seem to be a more or less
disturbing
„phenomen“.
Defining
the
presence
of
Roma and Sinti in a country as a
‘’problem’’ is one thing, degrading
them as a „uneducated, lazy,
smelly,
money-grubbing
childrenmachine making people
with a lifestyle of stealing“ is racist.
The general widely known
term „All human beings are equal“
seems to be forgotten when it comes
26

of good and evil. Because we see
stereotyped
representation
of
these
groups
(„the
others,
the
strangers“)
in
the
media,
school
books

TO

Germany
and in the law, we believe these
representations. We get influenced
by the images we see, even
worse we take them for
granted. On the other side, we also
see the representation of us the
Europeans in the media etc. as
the intelligent, good and civilized
(apparently „the norm“). These are
generalizing images, trying to
oppress a minority and to motivate
„episodes of everyday racism“
(Book
by
psychoanalyst
Grada Kilomba called „Plantation
Memories – Episodes of Everyday
R a c i s m “ ) .
‘’I’m not Racist, but...
the ‘Gypsies’ take the money
from the government and don’t want
to work, because they are lazy!“
Nearly every sentence during
the discussion in our EYVmeeting
started with „I’m not racist, but...“
(e.g. „ALL the Romas steal“),
which reminded me of the www.
notracistbut.com page, a website
collecting every kind of racistic
statements published in the internet
beginning with „I’m not racist,
b u t . . . “ .
Racism is about politics and
economics. Meaning it is about
power and wealth. The privilege is
given to one group and is being
denied to the other groups. Only a
group with power can impose its
racist beliefs on a whole society.
The function of racism is to increase
that groups privileges, power
and wealth. More than half of
the Romas in southeast Europe have
to live with less than 100 Euro a
month. Living condition are
worse with less chance to take part
in social or economic growing.
Children
are
suffering
of
discrimination
in
schools due to the effect of

institiutionalized racism. The
governemt isolates the Romas
in slums or ghettos in order to stable
the formed segregation. This is
how racism works: The
privileged
white
european
explaining
his
misery
through
the
unprivileged
Roma and Sinti. Modern racism
emerged as a way of enabling and
justifying ‘’white supremacy’’.

that it makes sense to fight
the various stereotypes and
prejudices
collectively.
Rethink your thoughts and
reflect about yourself always.

And not long ago, radical rightwing czechs marched in Nový Bor
and Varnsdorf: „The right-wing
extremists chanted “Gypsies
must go” and “Free, social and
national” - a phrase also used by
members of the right-wing
extremist National Democratic
Party of Germany (NPD).“ (Wave of
Hate,
SPIEGEL
Online
International, by Frank Brunner
and also see: www.romea.cz).
Rethinking & Reflecting
prejudices
The discussion showed once
again how near we can be to the
ideology of the Nazi Régime. Not
even
considering
the
consequences
with
certain
statements
we
make
(e.g. „stealing is in their
blood“), we continue pointing
our finger to a constructed enemy.
Instead of critisizing images we
absorb through the media or
other information base, we run
away from our responsibility
unconsciusly supporting the
oppression of a group.We are making
prejudices to our own reality –
but in fact there are just
fantasies. By putting people into
categories, there is no way for any
objectivity and the potencial
for degrading, discriminating and
hating a group of people grows. I
think all this suggests

About Elisabeth
“I’m 20 and originally
from Aachen (Germany), but moved to
Berlin to study Regional Studies Asia & Africa
and Portuguese at the
Humboldt University.
Next year I will spend
one semester in Dar es
Salaam (Tanzania). I
love languages, sports
and of course adventure. And to expose my
adventures, feelings
and experiences with
people, I usually write”

27

Alena Fričova

“They just can’t understand I ha

What role plays nationalism in your country? What role it plays among young peop
of intercultural week in Cologne. They provided us with answers from different c

Georgi Georgiev, Bulgaria (20)

In Bulgaria, nationalism influence mainly older people, who are already retired. It is because there is
not much tolerance between different social groups
and older people are the ones who hate the most.
I find it dangerous, because things that nationalists
describe in their policy may be appealing. People
think that they manage to solve all problems in Bulgaria, but it’s not so simple. If you want to solve
all Bulgarian problems, you have to think about
everybody in the country, not just Bulgarians.

Michaela Lennerová, Slovakia (20)

In my opinion, nationalism is still
very dangerous. Looking back to history, young people were, are and will
be very easily manipulated. In Slovakia, the situation is not so positive. We
have some radical politicians, for example Jan Slota, who call for struggle against gypsies and Hungarians in
our country and youngsters are often
tempted to join these radical streams.

Paula Gulbinska, Latvia (2

Nationalism in Latvia plays a hug
cially among young people. We h
called National Alliance and the
extreme radical right-wing and s
young people. From one side it
we have young people who loves
try and care for it, but in the same
there is question of different cultur
ly Russian people in Latvia, they
conservative is a soft word. They
the fact that we are not living nine
We have to find other way how to
er in the new society. I don’t kn
it’s a question of education or ex
youngsters are not trying to unde

Cédric Florentin

Nationalisms pull m
lot of people all ove
this ideology or they
other country when
should be able to liv
don’t have problem
still think that peopl

Ferran Porchas, Spain (19)

I think that nationalism is still very
important in Spain. We can see the
problem on Catalan-Spain relations. During Catalan national days
there were one million and half
people demonstrating on the street
for Catalunia’s independence. Of
course, sometimes nationalism can
be used for hiding certain things,
for example economical problem,
but I don‘t think that it is so dangerous. At least, I hope it isn’t.
28

Barbora Heres

Extreme nationali
problem, especial
are often leaning t
treme right. We ha
hate gypsies so the
litical parties. Som
to kill them, some
from them. I thin
should care more
tegrated and not

Slovakia

ave friends from other countries”

ple? And do you find it dangerous? That were questions we asked ten young participants
countries of the EU to develop general picture about notion of nationalism in Europe.

22)

ge role, espehave a party
ey are quite
supported by
is great that
s their coune time, when
res, especialy are quite...
can’t accept
ety years ago.
o live togethnow whether
xperience but
erstand that.

by Alena Fričova

Antonis Triantafyllakis, Greece (30)

Nationalism has risen up much higher these days. It used to be a minority. We
have Golden Dawn party, which is essentially neo-nationalism party. They
reached about 7 % of voters in previous election and rumours say that it almost
doubled now. You can see that raise of nationalism in Greece is extremely
dangerous because it has certain similarities with rise of nationalism in Germany. I just hope that thanks to education and better informed people it will
not result in another world war. Every kind of crisis provokes the notion that
if you are in danger you have to hold on your head and fight other heads.

Maria Iridon, Romania (19)

The majority of people in Romania do not care
for their country because of poor management
in politics and economics. They have really
negative feelings about Romania, and students
usually go to study in other countries because
they don’t think that our educational system
can offer them a good perspective. This is also
happening with older people, who mostly leave
to Spain, Italy, UK and Canada. Romanians
n, France (20)
don’t feel like they are part of a community, bemy country into difficult situation because cause our community is not united. Our sense
er the country have tendency to follow
of identity was lost during World Wars, when
y lean towards racism. My father lived in other powers influenced our politics and econhe was child and I think that all people
omy. However, there are Romanians that love
ve together with foreigners, so that they
their country and try to influence the others.
ms with identity and religion. However, I
They say that Romania can develop if people
le need liberty of expression.
put their interest into building a better future.

sová, Czech Republic (18)

ism in Czech Republic is big
lly among young people. They
to the extreme left or to the exave problems with gypsies, they
ey are trying to join extreme pometimes they say that they want
etimes they separate themselves
nk it’s dangerous and youngsters
e about people who are not ingo to extreme political parties.

Fadi Mustapha, Germany (17)

I think Second World War is over but there
are still groups which are big funs of Hitler. We have a party called National democratic party of Germany NPD and they are
so called neo-Nazis. They don’t like people
from abroad. It’s hard to say if it is dangerous. It certainly would be threatening if the
situation is going to be like today, people
from abroad are coming to Germany, they
get jobs and NPD party gets more members.
29